Jyothi, Khyati light up final day

Athletics Open Nationals : Karnataka claim three more gold; Railways retain overall championships

 H M Jyothi rounded off a memorable championships with a triple crown as Karnataka finished on a bright note at the 56th Open National Athletics Championships here on Friday.

Jyothi, winner of the 100M title on the second day, triumphed in the 200M and anchored the Karnataka quartet to victory in the 4x100M relay on the final day. She was adjudged the best female athlete of the championships.

Karnataka had further gold medal success with Khyati Vakharia claiming the pole vault title while the State quartet also won the silver in the women’s 4x400 relay.

Jyothi clocked 23.73 seconds to win the 200M ahead of her State-mate Reena George (23.90), who had also won the silver in the 100M. The Karnataka quartet, comprising Apsana Begum, Prajna S Prakash, Reena and Jyothi clocked 46.52 seconds to come ahead of Police in the 4x100 relay.

Khyati, who had made a successful comeback from injury at the Inter-State Championships in June, cleared 3.90 metres for the pole vault gold.

In the women’s 4x400 relay, Karnataka’s Nithyashree, Apsana, G K Vijayakumari and Ashwini Akkunji timed 3:38.49 for the silver behind Railways. Thanks to their efforts, Karnataka were second with 64 points in the women’s team standings.

Tintu Luka, representing Railways, was a comfortable winner in the women’s 800M in 2:03.21 while G Laxmanan and L Suriya claimed distance doubles, after winning the 10000M gold medals to add to their 5000M successes on the first day.

In men’s triple jump, Renjith Maheswary was a poor third with 16.02M. Services’ Malkit Singh won the gold at 16.57 metres and was adjudged the best male athlete.
Railways won the overall team title, followed by Services.

Results: Men: 200M: Vidya Sagar (Services) 21.08 seconds, 1; Sanjeet (Services) 21.15, 2; Akshay Khot (Maharastra) 21.58, 3.

800M: Ajay Kumar Saroj (Railways) 1:56.25, 1; Vishamber Kolekar (Railways) 1:56.44, 2; Amoj Jacob P A (Delhi) 1:57.60, 3.

10000M: Laxmanan G (Services) 30:05.03, 1; Kalidas Hirave (LIC) 30:39.01, 2;   Abhishek Pal ., Railways 30:51.19;

Triple jump: Malkit Singh (Services) 16.57 metres, 1; Rakesh Babu (Services) 16.09, 2; Renjith Maheswary (Railways) 16.02, 3.

Hammer throw: Niraj Kumar (Services) 66.91 metres, 1; Sukhdev Singh (Railways) 63.48, 2; Bajinder Singh (Punjab) 62.34, 3.

4x100M relay: Services 40.51 seconds, 1; Kerala 41.00, 2;  Railways 41.30, 3.
4x400M relay: Services 3:09.45, 1; Manipur 3:11.48, 2; Madhya Pradesh 3:11.82, 3.
Women: 200M: H M Jyothi (Karnataka) 23.73 seconds, 1; Reena George (Karnataka) 23.90, 2; Anwesha Roy Pradhan (Bengal) 24.49, 3.

800M: Tintu Luka (Railways) 2:03.21, 1; Sushma Devi (Railways) 2:07.78, 2;  Abitha Mary Manuel (ONGC) 2:08.77, 3.

10000M: L Surya (Railways) 33:33.74, 1; Sanjeevani Jadhav (ONGC) 33:50.99, 2; Swati Gadwe (Railways)  35:48.78, 3.

Pole vault: Khyati Vakharia (Karnataka) 3.90 metres, 1; Dija (Railways) 3.60, 2;  Sinju Prakash M K (Kerala) and Kumari Sangeeta (Police) 3.60, 3.

Discus throw: Kamalpreet Kaur (ONGC) 54.25 metres, 1; Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (ONGC) 51.94, 2; Sandeep Kumari (Railways) 49.69, 3.

Heptathlon: Liksy Joseph (Railways) 5026 points 1; Niksy Joseph (Railways) 4982, 2;  Sowmya (Tamil Nadu) 4629, 3.

4x100 relay: Karnataka 46.52 seconds 1; Police 46.76, 2; Railways 46.96, 3.
4x400M relay: Railways 3:37.90, 1; Karnataka 3:38.49, 2; Ongc 3:43.90, 3.

Team championships: Overall: Railways (274 points) 1; Services (187) 2; Ongc (84) 3. Men: Services (187). Women: Railways (159). Best athletes: Men: Malkit Singh. Women: H M Jyothi.